What criteria should I be applying when looking for a replacement/upgraded ROM for my tablet? The CPU architecture? The type of processor chip? The kernel version? The EXACT name/model number of my device? A combination of all these with some other ones too?

The device is rooted (see my next post for a quick summary of how I did it) and I have also made a Nandroid backup of the stock factory ROM on to my PC (details likewise below) but I haven't yet tried a recovery with this file so I don't know if it 'works'.

In the last few hours, I also installed "ClockworkMod (CWM) Recovery easy install package for RK3066 and RK3188 devices available" as advertised on this site and was able to reboot succesfully and without problems into CWM. Now my next step is to find a ROM which is compatible with my device and install it without bricking the tablet.

As my Fusion is a fairly non-run-of-the-mill make, and an even more obscure (now discontinued) model name, it is extremely difficult to find any information at all about it on the internet, even on this illustrious forum.

In general, I am fairly happy with this tablet, although I have a Bluetooth problem which I'm hoping will be solved by upgrading to 4.2x or even 4.3 (KitKat 4.4 would be nice but I think that would be beyond the realms of possibility).

The support department at Odys (aka Axdia) told me there would be no further OTA firmware updates. They also hinted that this particular tablet would be unable to cope with a higher OS version than I already have but I find this hard to believe.

How can I find out what is the highest API level (ie operating system version) my tablet can sustain, based on its hardware/current kernel?

For example, I found in this forum the link for Oma's Crew RKTablets Genio AOSP 4.2.2 v3.3 – 20.11.2013 ROM which says it is also for the RK3066 and will run on 3.0.8+. But the name of it is Odys Genio and not Odys Fusion. Is it safe to flash my tablet with this? If I brick the device, is it irreversible or can I can get back to where I was with my Nandroid backup or with a factory reset? Also, I don't understand what all the other associated downloads on the same page as this ROM are for, eg format_NAND_fix, extSD_to_NAND, tablet and phablet UIs, homebrew kernel & CC kernel. Anyone care to explain for me please?

Thanx in advance peeps............

roses2at

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2014/08/19 - 16:40

Disclaimer: these methods worked for me on my Odys Fusion. They may not work on your Fusion or other Odys tablet or other make of tablet. I put them here for guidance only - use them at your own risk!!

[How I rooted my Fusion: if you don't have the ADB drivers already installed on your PC, search on Google for the file adb-1.0.29.7z and unzip it. Copy from the rktools folder the file "android_winusb.inf" and move it to the usb_driver folder and OVERWRITE the file with the same name already there. Turn on your tablet, and in Settings>>>Developer Options put a tick in USB Debugging. Download from kingoapp.com or CNET the Android Root program android_root.exe. Connect your tablet to the PC with the USB cable, preferably direct and not to a hub. If it needs the drivers, point it to the usb_driver folder containing that file you just copied. You should now see the ADB drivers in Device Manager. Run the Kingo program on your PC as Adminstrator, it should find the connected tablet, press 'Root' and it will take about 5 minutes. Disconnect the tablet using the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the system tray and unplug the cable. Reboot the tablet. Check the rooting was successful with the free app Root Checker Basic from the Play Store. Don't forget to untick USB debugging when you're done otherwise normal USB Mass Storage operations will not work. This Kingo software can also be unused to unroot at any time you need to in the future.]

[How I made a Nandroid backup: No need to reboot into the bootloader this way but it does require root access. With your tablet on, download from Play Store the two apps Busybox (free or pro version) and Online Nandroid Backup (H3RRT1C) (free or pro version) by Thomas Otero/Ameer Dawood and install them. Run the latter on your tablet (no connection with PC necessary) but check settings page first. (I intended to do my backup to an empty external micro-SD card but I inadvertently selected the internal SD card. Luckily I had a enough space (5GB in total, 2.1 GB currently in use) to store it there but I'm sure the program would have told me if there wasn't. No problem - after the backup finished, I just copied the whole folder to the micro-SD card and then backed it up on my PC and also to Google Drive account for safekeeping). The whole process took about 8 minutes with clear on-screen infos (see below) about its progress and it produced a folder about 1.1 GB in size. Afterwards, I uninstalled both apps. Like I said above, I haven't yet tested the validity and integrity of this backup by doing a recovery with it. Judging by the size of the file it is only my system it has backed up, not my apps or SD card contents. These are all on my PC anyway. ]

I appreciate you're a very busy person, cos you seem to work 24/7 and 365d/y producing all these ROMs & kernels and other stuff for us with no sleep or time for your family...............

........but if I sent you a Nandroid backup for the stock firmware on my Odys Fusion JB 4.1.1, could you analyse it and tell me if I can use your Odys Genio ROMs on my tablet? Thanks.

One other thing: a brief explanation on the differences and advantages/disadvantages between all these different versions would be really good. For example, why should I choose v3.3 over v3.2 of JB 4.2.2?

2) Only CM10.1 will work? Not any of the JB 4.2.2s?? Why? I thought the Genio and Fusion are more or less the same tablet.

3) How do I install the new kernel? By unzipping the 7z file, then copying the resulting kernel.img into /rockdev/Image and overwriting the file aready there, then Run as Admin to do the flashing? Do I need to Erase IDB first?

A thousand thanks..........................

roses2at

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2014/08/21 - 12:32

Forget Question 1: I found it

<4>[ 6.578450] Current WiFi chip is MT5931.

What difference does that make to anything??

Oma7144

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2014/08/21 - 12:33

No tab is like the other. Different chips, different way of chip implementation, different hardware abstraction layer (kernel), different Android, different way of Android implementation ...

Wifi chip is most difficult thing. Genio has RK903 wifi, so specific builds for Genio won't work for Fusion.

The CM10.1 build is more generic and can be better adapted for your tab.

Download the CM10.1 pack and change (overwrite) the kernel. See instructions for futher procedure.

@ Oma (no need to answer immediately if you're busy, only when you have time - it's not urgent for me)

Hmm, that's interesting, so although the Fusion and the Genio are superficially the same, because of their different WiFi chips it makes things a lot more complicated for you.

Well, my first time flashing a new ROM did not go well. Followed the instructions exactly to the letter, but after first reboot, it went back to CWM (v6.0.1.5) and I got these error messages at the bottom of the screen:

Sorry, I'm not experienced enough to know what to do to solve this and don't want to start doing things like clearing cache cos I don't want to break anything irretrievably. Looked on the net for some answers but all the infos relate to other devices (mainly phones) so therefore irrelevant or unhelpful for me. Any ideas please?

However, I was able to successfully install Oma_Odys_Genio_JB_stock_dump with the RK30_kernel_308_fusion_odys. (The original kernel - after reboot - gave me the splash screen very briefly but then went to a permanently black screen with some white spill at the edges). The main surprise is that it was 4.1.1 - all Genios currently for sale have at least 4.2x so this FW must have come from one of the very early devices.

But as expected, there are many problems with this install, first and foremost no internet access (Settings>>>Wi-Fi says 'Turning Wi-fi on...' without ever finding my network) which is as you predicted becasue of the different Wifi chips on both devices. (Bluetooth doesn't switch on at all.)

Second, the home screen does not auto-rotate, but apps such as Settings and File Explorer do rotate automatically.

Third, I managed to root the device (as described in my second post above using ADB drivers and the Kingo app) and also install Busybox, but cannot install CWM as I don't know how to do that without internet access using my normal method (ARC Tools>>>ROCKCHIP GENERIC (RK3066,RK3188) CWM RECOVERY v. xxxx by fun).

The reason I'd like to make a CWM backup to my ext sd card of this Genio stock FW on my Fusion before going any further is so that I can easily restore it at a later date to investigate it further without having to re-flash it.

Sorry to use so many words, but I'm trying to give you as much info as possible.

But please don't spend too much time on this for me - I'm probably the only person out there in tablet land who owns a Fusion...........but as I said before, I really would like a working 4.2x or 4.3 or even KitKat 4.4 ROM for it. Especially after having read somewhere about a 4 year old phone (can't remember make/model or find the article again) being successfully flashed with KitKat.

Oma7144

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2014/08/21 - 18:41

Flash the CM10.1 build again with the genreic stock recovery first. It is linked on the blog.

Oma7144 said
Flash the CM10.1 build again with the genreic stock recovery first. It is linked on the blog.

- Oma -

OMG, my head hurts! Please, a bit more explanation..........

OK, I downloaded Oma_RK30_generic stock recovery.7z and unzipped it.

I copied that recovery.img file to /rockdev/Image folder of CM10.1 on rk30board and I renamed the file that was already there to old_recovery.img.

Then I flashed (I had to Erase IDB first - cos I previously had Genio stock FW installed??).

It rebooted OK and did some formatting, then went successfully to home screen of JB 4.2.2 (Wifi not working at the moment - everything else seems OK so far)

But now what? Web page says "Flash CWM after first boot (tick parameter and recovery)". What does this mean? I have to go back into CWM and flash again with the original recovery.img and with ONLY that parameter ticked??

Sorry to be so dumb but this is the first time I am doing this.

Oma7144

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2014/08/21 - 19:37

Fine, it boots up.

Restart the tab into flash modus (i.e. with the reboot app: reboot into bootloader).

Load old_recovery by ticking the empty box (see picture). Make sure only parameter, misc und recovery is ticked. Then flash. Now tab should boot into CWM.

If wifi still not works I need a dmesg and a logcat log. Try a few times to enable/disable.